Hi all,Looking for some advice. Raced mono's for about 20 years before getting a Hobie 16 about 5 years ago. Been fun but now need something a little bigger. I have identified a good looking 21se and a 18sx and trying to decide between the two. Some considerations:

- Weight wise, I'd always have about 300-400lbs on board. - Crew is a mix of semi skilled to novices generally- Keep boat rigged on a beach in NJ during summer- Waters tend to be choppy averaging 10-20knts and 3-4ft waves on sail out- Cost is similar for both boats as is condition- Cannot rely on having a lot of people to help get boat down beach on cattrax.- Will take excitement over a little comfort!!

Love any advice from folks on this forum! Maybe there's some obvious considerations between the two (aside from some weight) I'm not considering?)Thanks in advance!!Phil

Both are great boats especially since they have wing seats. The wings really make a difference in comfort and provide a huge "footprint" for everyone. My knees don't like to crawl around the tramp.

I owned my 21 SE since it was brand new in '89 and have sailed with my buddy on his 18 SX for many years, so I have decades of comparable sailing experience on both boats.

The 18SX is considerably lighter and easier to move around on cattraxs, but where we sails ,we don't really use them. We launch our boats from our trailers right off the beach and retrieve our boats the same way (water to trailer). I don't even get my axle wet just the tires. We both use the trailer winch to haul the boats on to the trailer with similar effort.

Having the boat at the beach with the mast up is a real benefit and a luxury I don't have. I choice to trailer my boat wide at 9' 7" (trailer is 10' 3 1/2" wide including the guide rollers) since 1990 and it gets a little difficult if traffic is heavy or mailboxes stick out my the road. You get use to it. I just returned from a 2320 mile trip to southwest Florida pulling my wide boat.... thank god for beer.........and being a fearless man...

I use to believe that I needed crew to go sailing so I picked up a couple of nice 16' Hobie's "for my kids"? Who am I fooling....... Than one News Years Day, I decided to revisit the notion that I needed crew and started to solo sail my 21SE that spring. I found it to be very stable and enjoyable without depending on anyone else, except someone to help raise my mast. At Paynetown State Park where I sail,a cold beer will get help every time...problem solved. I solo in 10 to 15 mph wind ....only 10 to 20 knots and you need crew.

Since you will have to haul your next boat on cattraxs to the beach without much help go for the 18SX Or get a second set of cattraxs for better weight distribute and bring more crew and get the 21SE.

Me, I would buy both boats and than pick and choice depending on conditions....

Come on over to Southern Indiana this spring and take mine for a spin around the lake...bring beer.

Definitely consider handling the boat on the beach. The 21 is a monster and weighs roughly 600lbs which is about 150lbs more than the 18. I assume, based on your location, that you're keeping your boat at Sandy Hook Catamaran Club. Sandy hook bay can have some large tidal swings meaning when the tide is low, you have a long way to drag your boat (uphill) back to your spot. The flip side is that at 400lbs of crew weight, you would be getting towards the upper limit of the 18's capacity. If you regularly plan to sail with heavier crew or more than two people, the 21 may be a better choice.

Another thing to consider is availability of spare parts. Hobie 21s have been out of production for a long time (about 20 years) and there weren't that many of them built to begin with. So replacement parts and used parts could be hard to come by. The 18 on the other hand went out of production more recently and there were a lot more of them built, so spare parts are more readily available.

Consider a Hobie 20? I found one at a killer deal with like new sails and it handles 400- 500 lbs like its nothing. Bought a beater H18 Magnum for cheap and i'm getting ready to put the magnum wings on the H20 - there's several out there with H18 wings, look on youtube. You sit high and dry and can trap off of the wings if you've got the brass. The design of the boat is amazing, its a crying shame they discontinued them - i guess they didn't sell enough to develop big regional racing fleets that would stick with a non spin boat Gotta say though, big people, big water - the H20 delivers, its weight, 420 LBS. Very doable with two people easily.

Good call but understand that this boat is not as durable as the 18 or 21. The hulls are thinner and I would never store mine on the beach.

Fxloop wrote:

Gotta say though, big people, big water - the H20 delivers

Hi performance for sure and A HANDFULL AT 15-20 and NOT FOR A SINGLE HANDER.

The 18se or the 18sx would be my first choice. SX sails sucked and you should not depend on any factory sails. As far as a square top, there is a guy in Tahoe sell one on Craigslist for about $900. New(ish) and colorful but the Factory SE sails work just fine for the weight you're carrying. My wife and I race the 18s and 20s and sail at a total of 360lb team weight.